Karorsinghia

Sham Singh, a Dhillon Jat of village Narli, commanded a Sikh band in the Budha Dal in 1734. He was killed during Nadin Shah’s invasion. His associate Karam Singh Khatri of village Faizgarh succeeded him. He lost his life during Ahmad Shah Durrani’s first invasion in January, 1748. This band was called Paijgarhia.

At the time of the formation of the Dal Khalsa in March, 1748, Karora Singh, a Virk Jat of village Barki in the district of Lahore, was the head of the misl. It was called after his name Karorasinghia misl. About twenty years earlier Karora Singh had been forcibly converted to Islam by Zakariya Khan’s officials. After six months he again took pahul from Darbara Singh and reverted to Sikhism.

Since then he became a determined foe of the Mughal government. Karora Singh generally confined his activities to the tract lying south of the Kangra hills in Hoshiarpur district. In an emergency he could seek shelter in the hills. In 1759 after the death of Adina Beg Khan and by killing his Diwan Bishambar Mal, he seized Hoshiarpur, Hariana, Sham Chaurasi (84 villages), all the four Basis, Shamsabad, Banbeli, Bahadurpur and the Talwan territory. The Talwan territory extended from the Ghorewaha in the east to Shahkot in the west. In the north the Bein river and Ghurka were its limits. The Satluj bounded it on the south. It contained 360 villages.

Talwan was then held by Mahmud Khan,. He possessed a few hundred troopers of his own, but he considered it advisable before the rising tide of Sikh power.. Karora Singh was killed in the battle of Taraori in 1761 against the Nawab of Kunjpura.

Karor Singh had no son. He had adopted his own personal servant Bhagel Singh Dhaliwal who was raised at to village Chabhal ( his mothers home) , 21 kms from Amritsar. He grew into the most powerful Sikh leader in the Cis-Satluj region. He dominated the Sikh politics in this area in the last quarter of the eighteenth century.

According to Syad Muhammad Latif, Baghel Singh had a force of 12,000 fighting men. As well as being a soldier, he was an adept in political negotiation and was able to win over many an adversary to his side. The Mughals, the Rohillaa, the Marathas and the English sought his friendship. In the wake of the decay of Mughal authority in the Punjab owing to Ahmad Shah Durrani’s successive invasions during the latter half of the eighteenth century, the Sikhs began extending their influence. Baghel Singh took possession of portions of the Jalandhar Doab and established himself at Hariana, near Hoshiarpur. Soon after the Sikh conquest of Sirhind in January 1764, he extended his arms towards Karnal, occupying a number of villages including Chhalaudi which he later made his headquarters. In February 1764, an army of 30,000 Sikh soldiers under the command of warrior leaders including Bhagel Singh, crossed the Yamuna River and captured Saharanpur. They overran the territory of Najib ud-Daulah, acquiring from him a tribute of eleven lakh of rupees (₹ 1,100,000).

In April 1775, Bhagel Singh with two other sardars, Rai Singh, ruler of Buria and Tara Singh Ghaiba, crossed the Yamuna river to occupy land ruled by Zabita Khan, the son and successor of Najib-UdDaulah. In desperation, Zabita Khan offered Bhagel Singh large sums of money and proposed an alliance to jointly plunder the crown lands.

In 1778, Shah Alam II sent an army of about 100,000 soldiers in a counter-attack against the Sikhs. The Mughal force was led by the Wazir Mirza Najaf Khan (Nawab Majad Ud-Daula) under the banner of the crown prince. The Mughal forces and the Sikh forces met in battle at Ghanaur, near Patiala. The Mughal army lost the battle and surrendered.

He is celebrated in Sikh history as the vanquisher of Mughal Delhi. On the 11th of March 1783, the Sikhs entered the Red Fort in Delhi and occupied the Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience), where the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II, made a settlement with them that allowed Baghel Singh to raise Gurdwaras on Sikh historical sites and allowed them to take six annals of each rupee (of all the Octrai duties) and any other taxes collected by the Mughal state (roughly 12.5 %).

Baghel Singh set up camp in the Sabzi Mandi area of Delhi, with 4000 troops, taking charge of the police station in Chandani Chowk. He located seven sites connected with the lives of the Sikh Gurus and had shrines raised on the sites within the space of eight months (April to December 1783). Gurdwara Sis Ganj marked the spot in the main Mughal street of Chandani Chowk where Guru Tegh Bahadur had been executed at the orders of Aurangzeb and Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, near the modern day Parliament House, where the Guru’s body was cremated. Bangla Sahib and Bala Sahib were dedicated to the memory of the Eight Guru, Guru Har Krishan. Four other Gurdwaras Gurdwara Majnu ka Tilla, Moti Bagh, Telivara and Gurdwara Nanak Piao were also constructed during this period. Bhagel Singh died Singh died in about 1802 in Hariana. After his death the Misl became fragmented Kalsia and Radaur became independent states and rest of the Misl was divided among his widows and sardars, most of which later were occupied by the Britishers.